Archive for the 'Eggs' Category

Poaching eggs is not all that hard. It just takes the right equipment and some time. And, don’t try to hurry the process. Before you start, take the eggs out of the refrigerator so they can come to room temperature. Or, put them in a bowl of warm water to take the chill of off them.
You will need a skillet that is about three inches deep. A sauté pan works great. Fill the skillet with about 2-1/2 inches of water and heat over medium heat until it boils. You want the eggs to sit on the bottom of the skillet and be covered with water.
While the water is heating up, add about one teaspoon salt and two tablespoons of white vinegar to the water. This will help stabilize the egg whites and make for better looking poached eggs.
Now, once the water starts to boil, turn the heat down until the water is just simmering.
If you have an instant read thermometer (here), the water should be about 160 to 180 degrees F. You do not want the water boiling!
Take your room temperature eggs and crack each one into a ramekin or coffee cup. When the water is the right temperature, place the lip of the cup about a half inch into the water and let the egg slid into the water. You can most likely cook two eggs at a time by using your right and left hand to slide the eggs into the water. If you want to cook more eggs at one time, get help.
Eggs take about three to four minutes to poach (it’s closer to four minutes for me). Watch the top of each egg and the white will creep up on the yolk. Then about a minute or two after that, the egg are done.
Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon and plate up on slices of toast or toasted sourdough English muffin (here).
Enjoy.

Brownies are a big thing in my family. Everyone loves brownies. Over the years my wife and I have made lots of different kinds of brownies.
That is until we ran into this recipe from Cooks Illustrated (CI). Then the search for the perfect brownie stopped.
This is such an outstanding recipe. These brownies are not cakey. They are not fudge-like.
The recipe used unsweetened chocolate and adds the amount of sugar to make the chocolate taste come through perfectly. They are in between and delicious.
The original recipe calls for a 9×12 baking pan. We like our brownies a little thicker so this recipe uses an 8×8 or 9×9 pan.
Also, CI used aluminum foil to line the pan. I have used that, but I like parchment paper better for this application.
While the directions are long, this is not a hard recipe to put together and the results are wonderful. You should give this a try.

Many baking recipes call for eggs at room temperature. There is a good reason for this.
If you drop cold eggs into creamed butter and sugar, the butter and sugar mixture can break and get grainy. This won’t happen if you use room temperature eggs.
But, if you are like me, you’ll forget to take the eggs out of the refrigerator to let them warm up.
The fix is easy. Just place the cold eggs into a bowl of warm water for about five minutes.
Warm eggs. And simple, too.

This is not really a recipe but a post pointing you to a website all about deviled eggs. Boy, does this guy know about deviled eggs. And rightfully so, the website is called The Deviled Egg Gourmet and the address is: Deviled Eggs.

There are pages and pages taking you through how to make deviled eggs. Maybe more than you ever wanted to know. But, it’s a fun read and you do learn a lot about eggs.

The recipes are at the end and there are some good ones. I made the one with pickle relish and horseradish. I would never have thought to put horseradish in deviled eggs, but it was very good. You should visit the site and give it a try.